Help! My boyfriend is a hypochondriac!

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Help! My boyfriend is a hypochondriac!
3
Wed, 01-07-2004 - 1:15am

Yes, ladies, he gets an ache and he thinks he has kidney failure..and to make it worse, he's afraid of doctors....How the heck am I supposed to deal with this? I don't want to nag, but there is no other way to get him to just go to the doctor..


Jenn









iVillage Member
Registered: 11-18-2003
Wed, 01-07-2004 - 11:27am



Jenn,

When I was little I saw a show on kids with cancer and I automatically thought that I had cancer I would beg my mom to take me to see the doector and she had to tell me a million times that I was fine, it took many years of the constant reassurance for me to finally believe her but it worked...

I have never dated anyone who always thought that something was wrong with them in fact I dated the type of guy that thought they were perfect, is this a constant thing with him? or is it only every so often maybe he sees something on t.v that makes him think that something is wrong with him one thing I have learned is the mind is very powerful it can create inages in our minds that for us are real but in reality they arent the mind can also make us feel pains that we really dont have like when a woman is pregnant sometimes the father of the baby will have such guilt that he will get pregancy pains along with the mother maybe that is it with the boyfriend...

I am sure that I have not lent a whole lot of insight but if I gave just a little than I am happy...

Good luck with this

Erin

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Wed, 01-07-2004 - 12:35pm

Well, actually..about a month ago he had some red welts on his legs and it turned out he'd given himself a staph infection through scratching at his overly dry skin. So, upon reading the warnings on the antibiotic prescription label, and the warnings that it could cause kidney failure, he's all freaked out. Well, first off, it is a warning for people who already have kidney disease! I told him in the future the doc and I are having a talk and only I am allowed to see the warnings. Argh! :P


Jenn









iVillage Member
Registered: 03-30-2003
Wed, 01-07-2004 - 3:47pm
hmmm... a hypochondriac who is afraid of doctors? that's new to me! i am quite the hypochondriac at times, and i love doctors! they usually know me way too well. there are a few things i have done for myself that cut down on my doctors visits, so they may be useful to him! first, i bought this giant mayo clinic book that is like a home doctor's manual but readable by everyone. so, when i have back pain and think it may be spinal meningitis :) i look it up and see that there are major symptoms that i don't have, so i don't have it. everyone has always teased me about my great big mayo book, but i just laugh along with them. hey, it's funny! but it makes me feel better. that's another thing is i make it kind of a joke when i worry about the big things that probably aren't true. like when i stub my toe, i know that it isn't broken or something crazy and worse. so i joke about it myself, and that usually solves the hypochondria. i would definitely try a big health book, or at least webmd.com. maybe you can look it up with him, and say "ok honey, that's not ______ because here are your symptoms and these are the disease symptoms" hope this helps!